Maria Miller has said her Culture Department does “a huge amount” of work of
“incredible importance” amid speculation that it could be abolished in the
next reshuffle.

The Culture Secretary insisted that her ministry had “never been busier” but declined directly to say whether it would continue in its current form.

Reports have suggested that the Prime Minister could remove responsibilities for certain policy areas, such as telecommunications, from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, or scrap it entirely at a reshuffle expected later this year.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4, Mrs Miller said her department was undertaking serious work, including on same-sex marriage reforms and supporting the arts, adding: “actions speak louder than words."

“Our department does a huge amount of work, not just in this area but across the board, with arts, media, sports, equalities and women’s issues,” she told the World at One. “These are the issues that government is working hard on.

“I think as a department we’ve never been busier; we’ve never had more to do.”